Timing device for the balance-wheel units of clock and watch movements



April 19, 1927. E. PORTER EL UNITS OF CLOCK AND WATCH MOVEMENTS TIMING DEVICE FOR THE BALANCE WHE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 22,- 19 26 W. E. PORTER TIMING DEVICE FOR THE BALANCE WHEEL UNITS 0F CLOCK AND WATCH MOYEMENTS April 19, 1927.

Filed Sept. 22, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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Patented Apr. 19, 1927.

' UNITED STATES PATENT men WILSON E. spartan, on NEW HAVEN, 'connnofricn'r, assreno-n TO rrrn new HAVEN or oo'x 00., OF NEW HAVEN, "CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION.

TIMING DEVICE FOR THE BALANCE-WHEEL UNITS-01E CLOCK AND WATCH MOVEMENTS.

Application filed September 22,1926. Serial No. 136,976.

My invention relates to an improved device for timing or vibratin the balance-- wheel units of clocks and watches, preparatory to their ultimate assemblance in the movements for which they are designed, the object of my present inventionbein'g to prodnce a simple, compact, time-and-labo'r saving device of superior convenience and etfectiveness. I A

With these ends in view, my invention consists in a timing or vibrating device for the balance-Wheel units of clocks and watches, characterized by a pair of yielding impulse-fingers positioned between the inaster and the trial units installed in the device so as to engage sharply with the edges of the rims of their balance-wheels and simultaneously start the same vibrating in opposite directions.

My invention further consists a timing or vibrating device characterized as above and provided with indicating pointers having their ends in Opposition and respectively vibrated by the master and trial units and reflected in a mirror located back of them, so as to present their images to the eyes of the timer.

My invention further consists in a timing -o1 vibrating device characterized as described and having certain other details of construction as will be hereinafter 'described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a broken plan View of a timing device constructed in accordance with my invention t 2 is a view thereof in front elevation, with a portion of the front frame-plate broken away;

Fig. 3 is a view thereof in right-hand side elevation; I

Fig. 4 is a broken View in horizontal 'section on the line H of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a detached broken plan View of the retaining-stud provided for anchoring the upstanding free end of the balancespring'of the trial-unit.

p In carrying out my invention, as herein shown; I employ a front frameplate it); an

intermediate frame-plate 1'1 and a back frame-plate 12, these plates being united at their corners by pillars 13 and secured to a base "14. A 'horiz ntally-arranged operattag-reverie, rovided with a ball-handle 1e its projecti ng outer end, is hung upon a rock-shaftl7 ]o'urnal'ed in the plates '10 and .11. At its inner endthis lever is connected by a screw-stud 1'8 with a horizontally-arranged lifting-block 19 normally resting upon. a stop-screw 20 in the plate 12. At its respective ends, the said block 19 carries two corresponding vertically-arranged lift-- ing-r'ods 21 {adjustably secured to it by' screws 22 and vertically movable in guidelugs '23 offsetting from the front of the intermediate frame-plate 10. The 'pi*ojecting upper ends of these rods'2l enter a horiZ'ontally-arranged finger-carrying "block 24 .to

which they are respectively secured by screws 25. The upper face of the block 24 mounts two corresponding oppositely-inclined yielding flat impulscsfingei's 26 and 27 secured in place by screws 28. An operating-spring 29, attached at its lowerend to a stud30, hasits upper end attached to a stud 31 depending from the center of the lower face of the lifting-block19 and exerts a constant effort to maintain the same in engagement with the stop-screw 20, whereby the block 24 'and the fingers 26 and 27 are normally maintained in their depressed or retired positions, An adjusting-screw 32, mounted in the block 19 and secured therein a set-screw 33, engagesat its upper end with stop-lug 34 mounted in the plate 11 to limit the upward movement of the inner end of the operating-lever 15 and hence the upward thrust of the yielding impulse-finigers 26 and 27. A hole 35 in the inner end afi a as finger 27 is only outwardly carved see till extends at: a right angle under the rim ot the halance-wheel 3!) ol. the hahnu-o-wheel trialunit. which also comprises a stall l and a halancespring ll.

It will he noted, by reference to Fig. 2, that the impulse-linger carrying-block 2t is positioned centrally helow the master halanee-wheel and trial-halance wheel units, so that when the block is raised by striking a smart hlow upon the operating-lever 15, the impulse-lingers Qtl and 27 will he sharply engaged with the edges of the rims ot the balance-wheels Pitt and 39 respectively. and start. the same rotating; in opposite directions with an impulse sufiicient l'or their adequate comparison.

The master halam'e-wheel unit. it will he understood, has previouatv heeu regulated and hence the operating! length of its spring predetermined and secured hr a pin in a stud et l in a rocking-lever .i-l: mounted upon the :lorward end of a rock-shatt eta rocking in centers 46 and ll in the plates 10 and 1:3 r *spcctively, the melting morement ol" the lever ital; being limited h v a stop-pin 4+5 car ried by it and located hetween a pair of stop-pins l) projecting inwardly from the plate 10. At its inner end, the shatt l5 carries an inwatelly-extending horizontallyatrranged indexpointer 50, which is located in the space between the plates 11. and 12. A similar pointer 51 is secured to the inner end of a rock-shalt 52 mounted in centers 53 and 54,-, corresponding to the centers t? and -16, and mounted in the plates and 12. The two pointers, as thus arranged, are in line with their ends, close together but not touching. 'lhey participate in the vibrations ot the respective lmlanee-wheel units and will vihrate in rail unison only when the two units are in unison. 'lhey will, indeed. start in unison hut depart therel'rtnn as the unit's viln'ate, to a degree dependent upon the departure of the spring all from correct; length.

At its tor ard end, the shalt t ll carries a. rock-lever limited in movement. h r a. stop-pin 56 carried by it and located hetween a pair ot stopnns iii projta'tine in wardly from the plate l .ltt its inner end. the lever carries an inwardly-pro-- jecting stud having. in its outer edge, a vertical notch 59 (Fig. 5) receiving" the up standing tree outer end of the balance-- spring ll ot the trialainit, the said end ot the spring it being; nornially held in place in the said notch a). hut. vertically inovahle therein. by the tension ot' a springauan tltl upstanding from a spring (31. encircling the rock-shaft 52.

A clearance-cut (if) in the upper edge of the plate 12, midway the length thereof. exposes the rear faces of the index-pointers 50 and 51 for the reflect-ion of their inner ends in close opposition, as shown in 1, in

a swinging mirror (53 mounted in a post: (it upstanding in the hase 1 near the rear edge thereof. By pre'lt'erenee, the rear :taees of the said pointers will he covered with white enamel, so as to heighten their visihility in the mirror and, for the sake of contrast, it is desirable to have the rear taces oi: the plates 11 and '19, hlaclr, so as to 'l'urthor heighten the visibility of the pointers. lrc'terahly. also. the front lace ol the intermediate date will he covered with white enamel, so as to increase the visibility ot the master and trial halance-wheel units and their delicate hains1nings.

tn tit-lllgl my iunn'ored device. a carefullypre-regrulated halanee-wheel unit is installed in the device in the screw-pirot hearings (i5 and on mounted in the i'rana -plates It) and ti respectively, to the lel't ol' the centers thererrt'. as shown in Fin. 1. 'lhia halanccwheel. now heroines the master halaucewheel and remains a llxture in the device ilor the timing: of halance-wheel units like it.

The trial halancearheel is now installed in the screw-pivot lawn-inns 7 and, oh, the latter being 'lurnitthed. for convenience of operatimi. w'th a knurled lingetr-ludlon tit), and stahilized in its position by a helical spring! 70.

A sharp downward hlow hr the tiuier,- i. e.. the person using the devico.--on the projectingend oi the operatingdever 1.5, overcomes the tension of the spring 29 and drives the edges of the i1npulse-lingers 26 and E27 sharply against the ed xs ot the rims ot the l:almice-wheels fi-ltl and d ol. the master and trial halaneeavlwel units, wherohy they are simultaneously given an impulse in opposite directions, that is. the wheel 38) in a t'lnt'ltwir t' direction. and the wheel tilt in a (ftHtltlOl'-('lt)(fli\\'itt direction. so that therea lter they will ontinue vihrating; in oppo-- site directions under the. power thus devolved upon their balance-sprihas. inasmuch as the ends ol the itnpulac-lingers at; and iii hi e directly into the rims of the lltllttlltt wheels and as the leverage reprersmited hy the diameters ot' these wheels in eonsideraltle, the power trausniitltal to than will he ado (plate :l'or all purposes ol eompaihilur the adjr tment oil their hil:in e-sin'iue'a.

will he sta ted ainmltaiuani whe ea in the timiiir; devices n the ilrior art. the starting]; of the two units hr wiping; their respective stalls cannot he degiiemlrd upon to start the units simultaueourlr.

ll will he iuideratoml. ol' emu-we that the instant alter the hlow o l the lhurer ol' the timer has heeu delivered upon the lever 15;, the spring 29 will act to restore the lerer 1!] to its normal position and so clear the nds of the yielding; imputoe-[lorries an and 21' from the rims oi the respectiw halancewheels almost instantly. leaving: them free to vibrate, as the term Hill lttl

lift) The vibration of the index-pointers 50 and 51- participates in the vibration of-the two units and provides a means for their comparison,' which is noted by"tl1e""timc1" in the mirror 63. The two pointers willstart together, but the pointer 51 of the trial-unit will soon either move ahead or lag behind the pointer 50 of the master-unit, dependent upon the length and strength of the balancespring 41, as compared with the balancespring 38 of the master balance-wheel unit.

The user of the device, noting the behaviour of the pointers 50 and 51 in the mirror 63, now releases the free end of the balance-spring 41 by manually springing back the spring-arm 60, after which he will raise or lower the upstanding free end of the spring ll in the slot 59 to increase or de crease the length of the said spring as is, in his judgment, required to conform its action to the action of the balance-wheel spring 88.

The above described cycle of operation is repeated until the two pointers vibrate in consonance, after which the workman i11- serts his tweezers or other delicate instrument and bends the free end of the balancespring 41 sharply upon the upper face of the stud 58, this bend serving to indicate the point at which the spring must be anchored in the cloclemeclianism in which the trialbalance unit is ultimately installed. In using the device, it is placed upon a bench or table before the timer, who looks over it, as it were, into the mirror, in which he sees the two pointers vibrating on a black field, to the exclusion of everything else before him, which enables him to concentrate his attention upon the matter of vital concern at the moment,-naanely, the behaviour of the two white-enameled pointers with relation to each other.

By my improvement, I am enabled to time balance wheels, not only with greater rapidity but with greater accuracy than with any devices of the prior art known to me.

I claim:

1. A device for timing the balance-wheel units of time-pieces, having means for mounting a master balance-wheel unit and a trial balance-wheel unit, and means for directly engaging with the edges of the rims of the balance-wheels of such units for simultaneously starting the two units in oscillation in opposite directions whereby one balance-wheel is given a clockwise impulse and the other an anti-clockwise impulse, the said means comprising yielding impulsetinge'rs, the edges of which co-act with the edges of the balance-wheel rims.

2. A device for timing the balance-wheel units of time-pieces, having means for mounting a master balance-wheel unit and a trial balance-wheel unit side by side, means for the comparison of their relative action when oscillating, yielding impulse-fingers ar- 'tions, at spring retracted carrier for such fingers, and means for-sn'iartly thrusting the said-fingers against the edges of the rims of the said wheels.

3. A device for timing the balance-wheel units of time-pieces, having means for mounting a master balance-wheel unit and a trial balance-wheel unit side by side, means for the comparison of the relative oscillation of the balance-wheels of such units, impulse-fingers having their free ends arranged for thrust-engagement with the edges of the respective balance-wheels for oscillating them in opposite directions, means for smartly moving the edges of the said fingers into engagement with the edges of the said wheels, index-pointers connected with the respective units and arranged in opposition for the convenient observation of their relative movement, and a mirror arranged for the reflection of the said pointers, whereby their relative movement may be noted by the user of the device by their reflection in it.

4. A device for timing the balance-wheel units of time-pieces, comprising front, rear and intermediate frame-plates, means installed in the front and intermediate plates for mounting a master balance-wheel unit and a trial balance-wheel unit, means mounted in the said front and intermediate plates for simultaneouslystarting the said units in oscillation in opposite directions by direct thrust-engargement with the edges of the rims of their balance-wheels, and means connected with the said units and located in opposition for comparing the speed of their relative oscillations.

5. A. device for timing the balance-wheel units of time-pieces, having front, rear and intermediate movement-plates, means located in the front and intermediate plates for the installation of a master balance-wheel unit and a trial balance-wheel unit, means for simultaneously starting said units in oscillation in opposite directions by direct thrust-engagementwith the edges of the rims oftheir balance-wheels, index-pointers connected with the respective units for par ticipatino; in the movement thereof and 10- cated between the intermediate and rear movement-plates, and a mirror located back of the rear plate in position to reflect thewent with the edges of the rims of their baiance vheeis, whereby the same are simultaneously started oscillating in opposite directions, index-pointers connected with the respective units and located between the intermediate and rear movement-plates for the comparison of the respective speed of the units, and a mirror located back of the rear plate for reflecting the action of the said pointers.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification.

WILSON E. PORTER. 

